Newbury Park Keeps Royal Winless, 71-57

Newbury Park High Coach Ken Barone couldn’t afford to feel much sympathy for Royal on Tuesday night, even though Royal was without a win.

After all, Barone’s team has plenty of troubles of its own, including the loss of two injured starters, one of whom was the team’s leading scorer.

But Barone’s substitutes came through, leading Newbury Park to an easy 71-57 first-round victory over Royal in the Ventura tournament. Newbury Park plays Ventura in a semifinal Friday at 8 p.m.

The Panthers (4-5) put their running offense in gear to open up an 11-point lead in the first quarter, 19-8. Newbury Park led the entire game despite being without the services of forward Dan Ryan, the team’s leading scorer, and guard Glenn Harrick. Both are out with ankle injuries.

Barone was happy with his team’s performance, especially considering the injuries.

“Everyone picked up the slack with our two starters gone,” Barone said. “The team played with great composure throughout the game.”

Royal (0-7) surged early in the third quarter, cutting the Newbury Park lead to 32-29 midway through the period. But Newbury Park’s pressing defense forced the Highlanders into eight turnovers in the quarter as the Panthers soon built a 49-37 advantage.

“We set the ball up real well and it gave us a balanced offensive attack,” Barone said. All nine healthy Panthers scored in the game. Center Sean Doyle led with 15 points, guard Shawn Jeffers added 12 and Matt Ludlow came off the bench to score 12.

Guard Chris Noyes of Royal led all scorers with 18 points; forward Roger Greene had 11.

Newbury Park out-rebounded the Highlanders, 30-18. Panther forward Wayne Cook, a sophomore, had eight rebounds.

“Ventura and Buena may be favored to win the tournament,” Barone said, “but we would like to have a say in that on Friday.”